Transverse fruit brusher



H. JERANDENBURG i ipiiild TRANSVERSE FRUIT BRUSVHER Original Filed June 1, 1935 Se t. 20, 1938.

Reisaued Sept. 20, 1938 Harry J. Brandenburg, Glendon, 0.111., assignor of sixty-five percent to'F. E. Wood, W. G. Cartter, 1. B. rovia,

Seem, and W. J. Bailey, all of Mon- Original .1... 2,035,587, dated March 31,. mo, Serial No. 24,536. June 1, 1935. Application for reissue February 18, 1938, Serial No. 191,279

12CiaimaiCL146-202) I My invention relates to the preparation of fruits and vegetables for market and has particular reference to a machine for washing or otherwise treating citrus fruits and the like.

In the citrus industry, the oranges, lemons, etc.. are thoro 8 y washed before being packed for shipment. This is usually done by soaking the fruit in tanks containing cleansing solution and then feeding the fruit to a suitable machine in which the fruit is brushed to remove the surface impurities loosened during the soaking proceel. The machine most commonly med for washing citrus fruits is known as the "transverse brusher. This machine consists of a-i'rame in which a plurality of transverse, cylindrical brushes are journalled in juxtaposition, these being rotated at a-reiatively' high speed in a common direction. Fruit is fed onto the uppermost surfaces of the brushes at one end of the machine and tends to remain in thevalleys formed between the cylindrical brushes. The fruit passes through the brusher by being crowded from one valley into the next by oncoming fruit. When the feeding of additional fruit to the brusher is stopped, the aforementioned valleys remain full of fruit which must be removed or "cleaned out" before -brushing another lot of fruit. The cleaning out operation is either ac-'. complished manually or by some form of mechanical clean-out means provided on the washer. A common type of mechanical clean out for use on a transverse brusher is comprised of a plurality of fruit impellers carried along above the. brushes by endless chains at either side of the machine. This type of clean out is apt to injure the fruit when coming in contact there-- with and also retards the progress of fruit through'the brusher when the supply of fruit exceeds the capacity of the brusher.

An object of my invention is to provide a brusher of the transverse brush type that will automatically clean itself out after washing a given lot of fruit.

Q. Another object of the present invention is the provision of a brusher of the transverse brush type in which the fruit will progress from valley to valley without the necessity of being crowded along by oncoming fruit.

A further object is to provide a transverse brush washer through which the fruit will be fed or cleaned out without thenecesslty of providing mechanical means to engage and urge the fruit therethrough.

Other obiects and advantages will be ade manifest in the following description talrn in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of my invention, a portion thereof being broken away to more clearly disclose the structure thereof. I

Fig. 21s. an end elevational view looking in the direction of the arrow 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, transverse sectional view -taken on the line H of Pig. 1.

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary sectional view taken on thelinel-lofFigLand v Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary, vertical sectional views taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and illustrating the operation ofmy invention.

Referring specifically to the drawing, a fruit brusher "comprising a preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in Fig. 1, this brusher including a frame Ii, a; plurality ofrockable fruit brushing units If, and a mechanism if for rocking the units ll. 1

The frame ll includes a pair of spaced side plates I4 and II supported from the floor by pairs of channel iron legs it, II and it. Fixed on the inside of the plates I4 and ii are aprons 20, as shown in Fig. 2, having semi-circular notches 2i provided on the lower edges thereof as seen in Fig. 5. Mounted between the aprons 2O atopposite ends of the frame are inlet and outlet drop boards 22 and 23 shown in Fig. l.

The brushing units ll each include a driven shaft 18 journalied in a bearing 26 on a plate It as shown in Fig. 4. Fixed on the ends of the shaft "is a gear II and a'sprocket 29. Rock- I ably mounted on the shaft 25 between the gear 28 and plate II is a bar Ill having lugs II on the under side thereof as seen in Fig. 1. Rotatably mounted in suitable apertures provided in the extremities of the bar 30 are shafts I! having Bears 33 fixed thereon. Fixed on the plate It in alignment with each of the shafts fl is a stud fl upon which a bar It is rockabiy mounted, the bars 38 being identical with the bars I0 and hav- I ing lugs "formed on the under sides thereof.

Fixed in the'extremities of the bars 38 are studs II. the latter being disposed in alignment with the shafts 82 of the arms ll. Mounted on the studs I! and shafts II are rotary brushes 0 driven in a common direction of rotation by the shafts ll. Formed by the uppermost sides of the brushes 4! of each of the units It aretransverse depressions hereinafter refer! toas primary valleys a and formed between the inside brushes 40 of adjacent units I! are similar depressions hereinafter referred to as secondary valleys b.

The first of the brushing units If is driven from a motor M by a chain ll trained about a sprocket ll provided on the shaft II of said first unit I2.

' cludes a pair of cam shafts ill and sl journalied in bearings 52 on the legs l8, l! and il. Fixed on the shafts ill and II are cams l4 positioned to contact the lugs ii, and 31 of the bars 30 and 36 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Keyed on one curl of each of the shafts 50 and BI is a worm gear 60. Rotatably mounted in suitable bearings provided on the legs I6 is a shaft ll having worms 8! thereon, the latter meshing with the worm gears ill as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft ii is driven from the motor M by a chain 64 trained about a sprocket 85 on the end of the shaft ii.

Operation When the motor M is energized, the brushes ll are all driven in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, through the medium of the chainsll and II. The cam shafts I and II are driven from the motor M by the chain 64, shaft I and gears 60 and 82. As the shafts ill and ii rotate, the cams 54 cause the units If to rock from the positions in which they arefshown in Fig. to those shown in Fig. 6, and back to the positions shown in Fig. 5, this rocking motion being continuous. Fruit to be brushed by the brushes 40 is fed onto the inlet board 22 and rolls into the first valley a when the units I 2 are in the position in which they are shown in Fig. 5. As the units I! rock to the position in which they are shown in Fig. 6, the fruit is carried by rotation of the brushes 0 from the primary valley ato the secondary valley b. As the brushes 40 continue to be raised and lowered by the rocking motion of the units if, the fruit is progressively carried from valley to valley and eventually discharged onto the outlet board 23.

If an excess amount of fruit should be fed to the machine ill, the fruit is free to crowd through the machine II as fast as it will, itbeing clear that when the units II are inclined as shown in Fig. 5, the fruit in valleys a can easily be crowded into the valleys b by additional fruit before the units I! are rocked to the position in which they are shown in Fla. 6.

After the feeding of fruit to the machine I. is stopped upon completion of the brushing of a given lot of fruit, the rocking motion of the units If causes the residual fruit to be promptly cleaned out and the machine made ready to wash another 7 lot of fruit.

fruit receiving valleys between each pair 'of said elements; means for driving each of said elements in a common direction of rotation; and means causing relative vertical movement between each adjacent pair of said elements, the fruit disposed in one of said valleys being caused to move into the next adjacent valley when the element forming one wall of said valley is disposed above the level of the element forming the advance wall of said valley.

2. In a fruit treating machine, the combination of: a frame; a plurality of juxtaposed rotary fruit treatingelements journalled transversely on said frame, the uppermost sides of said elements forming a fruit treating surface characterized by fruit receiving valleys between each pair of said elements; means for driving each of said elements in a common direction of rotation; and means causing relative vertical movement between each adiacent pair of said elements, the fruit disposed in one of said valleys being caused to move into the next adjacent valley when the element forming one wall of said valley is lifted above the level of the element forming the advance wall of said valley.

3. In a fruit treating machine, the combination of a frame; a plurality of juxtaposed rotary fruit treating elements journalled transversely on said frame, the uppermost sides of said elements forming a fruit treating surface characterized by fruit receiving valleys between each pair of said ele- -ments; means for driving each of said elements in a common direction of rotation; and means for tion of: a frame; fruit inlet means at one end of said frame and fruit outlet means at the opposite end thereof; a pair of closely spaced -cylindrical fruit treating elements journalled horizontally in transverse relation to said frame there being a fruit receiving valley formed between said elements, said elements comprising a fruit treating unit rockably mounted on said frame about an axis parallel with the longitudinal axes of said elements; means for rotating each of said elements so that the upper surfaces thereof travel in a direction toward the outlet end of said frame; and means for rocking said unit, said valley receiving fruit when said unit isinclined toward the inlet end of said frame and discharging said fruit when said unit is inclined toward the outlet end of said frame.

5. A combination as in claim 4 in which means is provided for maintaining a constant relationship between the speed of rotation of said fruit treating elements and the rate at which said fruit treating unit is rocked.

6. In a fruit treating machine, the combina-- tion of: a frame; fruit inlet means at one end of said frame and fruit outlet means at the opposite end thereof; a plurality of pairs of juxta posed, cylindrical fruit treating elements disposed in transverse relation to said frame, each pair of said elements comprising a fruit treating unit rockably mounted about an axis parallel with the longitudinal axes of said elements, there being primary fruit receiving valleys formed on each of said units an secondary valleys formed betweeneach of said units; means for rotating each of said elements in a common direction of rotation; and means for rocking each of said units; said primary valleys receiving fruit when said units are inclined toward the inlet end of said frame, said fruit being discharged from said primary valleys into said secondary valleys when said units are inclined toward the outlet end of said frame.;

7. In a fruit washing machine, the combination of: a frame; a pair of cylindrical, juxtaposed brushes extending transversely of said frame; a gear on one endof each of said brushes; a driven shaft Journalled in said frame and positioned centrally relative to said brushes; a gear onsaid shaft meshing with each oi said gears on said brushes; means rockable about the axis of said driven shaft for rotatably supporting the ends of each of said brushes; and power means for actuating said rockable, brush supporting means.

8. In a fruit brushing machine, the combination of: a frame; a plurality of rotary brushes extending transversely of said frame and lying across the path of fruit through said machine; a pair of heads at opposite ends of said brushes, said brushes being rotatably mounted on said heads; means for pivotally mounting said heads on said frame on an axis parallel to and symmetrically but ,eccentrically disposed relative to said brushes; means for causing relatively rapid rotation of said brushes to brush fruit fed into temporary positions of rest on these; and means causing pivotal movement of said heads about said axis to cause said fruit to be discharged transversely of said brushes from said positions of rest. a

9. In a fruit brushing machine, the combination of: a frame; a plurality of brushing units on said frame each of said units including a pair of heads, means for pivoting said heads on said frame on a given substantially horizontal axis, a plurality of rotary brush rollers mounted be tween said heads in symmetrical relation with said axis, said brushing units being disposed in substantially parallel relation in substantially the same plane; means for relatively rapidly rotating said brushes in each unit to brush fruit fed into temporary positions of rest on said brushes; and means causing pivotal movement of said units about said axes to cause each such unit to successively receive fruit from a position in said machine behind said unit and then discharge said fruit to a position in front of said unit, the fruit thus being forced to travel from unit to unit through said machine.

10. In a transverse brusher the combination of a series of transverse brushes disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane said brushes comprising two sets, each set including alternate brushes of said series; means for rotating the brushes of at least one of said sets; and means rocking the brushes of one set about axes lying substantially-upon the peripheries of the brushes of the other set to cause progress longitudinally in said machine of fruit resting on said brushes.

11. In a transverse brusher, the combination of: aseries of transverse brushes disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane said brushes comprising two sets, each set including alternate brushes of said series; means for rotating the brushes of at least one of said sets; means for rocking the brushes of one set about axes lying substantially upon the peripheries of the brushes of the other set to cause progress longitudinally in said machine of fruit resting on said brushes; longitudinal shaft means in said brusher; and cams provided on said shaft means and actuated thereby for accomplishing said relative vertical movement. 7

12. In a transverse brusher, the combination of: a brush bed for supporting, brushing and con? veying a stream of fruit, said bed including two series of brushes disposed transversely to the direction of travel of fruit over said bed, and designated as the first series and the second series, the brushes of one series being interspersed alternately between the brushes of the other series; means for rotating the brushes of the first series; and means for rocking the brushes of the second series about axes lying substantially upon the peripheral paths of the outermost portions of the brushes of theflrst series to cause progress longitudinally through said machine of the fruit v resting on said brushes.

HARRY J. BRANDENBURG. 

